Dominik Mersch signs on for Art Stage Singapore - Art Collector

26 October 2010 | Sydney’s Dominik Mersch Gallery is the first Australian gallery to confirm its participation in Art Stage Singapore, a new art fair to be held at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands from 12 to 16 January 2011.

The new fair is attracting attention in Australia largely because of the credentials of its founder, Lorenzo Rudolf. Rudolf is a former director of Art Basel, inventor of Art Basel Miami Beach and co-creator of ShContemporary.

Participation is by invitation only and while the full exhibitors list has yet to be announced, roughly half will be from the Asia Pacific with the rest drawn from around the world.

Rudolf has said that Art Stage is not in competition with Hong Kong’s Art HK. “We are here in a region with a growing market and the first priority is to do everything we can to support and strengthen this market. That means we need more than one art fair,” he told ARTiT in June. But there are signs he is aware of the competition among Asia Pacific art fairs when it comes to securing galleries of calibre. To sweeten the deal, Art Stage is offering tax-free trade to all non-Singaporean galleries and organisers are also claiming stands will cost up to 50 per cent less than at comparable international art fairs.

Rudolf also hopes the timing of the fair – in what is usually an empty slot in the art world calendar – will help to attract collectors from the United States and Europe.

Dominik Mersch Gallery will use its invitation to the fair to present a group exhibition of work by Giacomo Costa, Stephan Balkenhol, Marion Borgelt, Tim Johnson and Helen Pynor.